


Elf on the Shelf

by Sholio



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Banter, Christmas, Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13076448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/pseuds/Sholio
Summary: Nancy has a holiday job at the mall. Now if she can just stop everyone she knows from finding out. Especially two of them in particular.





	Elf on the Shelf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gala_apples](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gala_apples/gifts).



It was funny and a little bit unfortunate, Nancy thought, that the odds of running into someone you knew at a part-time job went up in direct proportion to the level of embarrassment in being caught at said part-time job.

"Hello, and welcome to Santa Town! Would you like a candy cane, little girl?"

"Yes, I would like a candy cane, Mike's dorky big sister," Erica Sinclair said, taking one from her hand.

"Erica!" Mrs. Sinclair scolded.

Nancy firmly kept her smile glued in place and adjusted her elf ears with a candy-striped glove. She only had to do this until Christmas Eve, and she could really use the money after graduation. The mall was all the way over in River Bluff, two towns away from Hawkins. Did every single person in Hawkins have to do their Christmas shopping here?

... The answer was apparently yes. Everyone. Constantly. At least Mike pretended not to know her as Mom dragged him around the mall, though she thought that was probably because he was so critically embarrassed at having to see his sister wearing red-and-white striped tights and a little green elf skirt.

And oh God, as if having the Sinclairs show up wasn't bad enough, she'd just seen _three_ more of the kids -- Dustin, Will, and Max, window-shopping at the record store just down the mall from Santa Town. _Please let them have come here with Mrs. Sinclair or Mrs. Henderson. Please ..._

As soon as the kids knew, everyone would know. Steve and Jonathan both knew she had a job during the Christmas break, but she'd managed to give the impression she was working retail (which was ... sort of true?). She'd been getting a ride over to the mall with Ally, who was also working as an elf, so she didn't have to ask either of them.

It wasn't like she thought she could hide it forever, but maybe she could hide it long enough to keep them from seeing her in her elf costume --

Oh no. During a pause to gather a handful of candy canes and pass them out to the next wave of excited preschoolers, she'd missed seeing them show up, but there they were now, both of her stupid boys standing around with Mike's little friends outside the music store. Steve looked dorkily adorable in a red sweater with snowflakes on it, Jonathan had one hand on the camera slung around his neck, and both of them seemed to be listening indulgently to the excited, chattering kids.

"Shit," Nancy muttered, which got her amazed looks from a pair of apple-cheeked 3-year-old twins, a glare from their mother, and an elbow in the ribs from Ally.

The boys were going to stay down there, right? Maybe the other kids hadn't talked to Lucas yet -- oh double shit, they were coming this way, the whole group. Nancy tried to maneuver herself behind Ally, but it was too late. She'd been seen.

"Oh wow," Max said, staring openly at Nancy's elf ears. "It's even worse than Lucas said."

"I'll give you all candy canes to go away and never mention this to anyone," Nancy hissed, shoving a fistful of candy canes in their general direction.

The kids took the candy cane bribe but went nowhere, as the boys sauntered up behind them. Nancy resisted the urge to run and hide behind Santa's workshop.

"Don't we get candy canes too?" Steve asked, grinning at her.

"These are only for good boys and girls," Nancy told him, grabbing another handful from the bowl. She could feel that she'd gone red from the neckline of her elf costume to her little elf ears.

The boys shared a look -- fond, indulgent, and soft. They were standing very close together, not quite touching, but if Steve had taken his hands out of his pockets, they could have held hands; Jonathan's fingers were very nearly brushing Steve's hip. It was as close as they could get in public.

"Haven't we been good this year?" Jonathan asked.

"Did she put us on the naughty list?"

Max made a gagging sound. 

"I don't think _we_ need to hear this," Dustin said loudly.

With both her gloved hands full of candy canes, Nancy stripped the plastic off two of them with her teeth, and shoved one into Steve's mouth and the other into Jonathan's. "There you go. Now leave -- augh!"

She brought her hands up in a shower of candy canes, but not in time. The flash of Jonathan's camera had already gone off in her face.

"I'm going to kill you both," Nancy told them, hands over her face.

One of their hands caught each of hers and pulled them down, revealing the faces of the two people she loved best in the world laughing unrepentantly at her.

"Don't worry," Steve told her, giving her a quick kiss that smelled like peppermint. "You're the cutest elf I've ever seen."

"Mommy," a nearby child piped up, "why is that man kissing Santa's elf?"

Nancy let her fingers trail out of theirs, and gave them both a shove with her striped gloves. "Stop corrupting the children," she told them, barely able to speak through her laughter. "In front of Santa too. You're both on the naughty list now!" 

"Yeah, not to mention in front of _us,"_ Dustin complained, picking up a handful of the scattered candy canes. "We're not here for PDAs. You were gonna take us to the comic store after the mall, remember? It closes at five, so let's roll."

"Excuse me, which one of us has a driver's license _and_ the car?" Steve nudged Jonathan's elbow. "C'mon, we've still got to find something for your mom."

"Duty calls," Jonathan told Nancy with one of his quick, shy grins. "See you back in Hawkins."

"Aren't you dating Jonathan?" Ally asked her as the boys wandered off, waving goodbye, each with a candy cane in one hand. "Why are you kissing Steve now?"

"What happens in Santa Town," Nancy told her, "stays in Santa Town," and bit down on a candy cane.


End file.
